FCfree

Not sure about all of you, but I am having a hard time keeping my favorite airline, SWA as my primary airline. Any time I need to take a trip, of course my first stop on the Internet is www.southwest.com. But, then I look at the price and the times and say ... hmmm... lets take a quick look at Orbitz, Frontier and United.

I am finding better prices (even factoring in bag fees) and/or better times with other guys sometimes. So far, the number of flights booked and/or flown for me is United-2, Frontier-3, Southwest-3 and Alaska-1.

Trying hard to stay with SWA, but just finding other options that work better for price, schedule or specific airport.

ricohitman

It does seem that SW airfare sales are very lackluster so far this year. I hope they do some summer sales soon because the prices are pretty ridiculous right now.

ElmhurstNick

I'm primarily using Southwest for short-notice short-haul work trips. With the double TQP promo, I've already cleared A- for next year, and will be pretty far to A+. But I really haven't seen much worth spending all of my RR2 points on lately, and BA Avios are now a better deal for me for short-haul (e.g. sub-650 mile flights) redemptions.

Add in the fact that I really don't want to fly on a full Devolve plane for 4 hours, and WN has suddenly become pretty difficult for discretionary travel.

Dunbar

The big thing that keeps me off the legacies is how the block out most of the non-middle seats to get you to buy up to the "preferred seating." US, AS, and UA have all gone to this model and with the US/AA merger I think it's only a matter of time before AA does it too. That's why I chose to fly WN from LAX-PDX even though it requires a connection. I would've gladly flown VX but their schedule was/is horrible.

soccerref750

It's not such a bad system once you have status and just get the preferred seating without paying for it.

I prefer WN for short hauls, but no matter how many RR points I accumulate they're wouldn't pay for a flight to MLE like my UA miles . The legacies have some use. For the OP, if price outweighs the benefits that comes with loyalty for any airline, then it might not make sense to stay loyal to one or another.

LegalTender

Sez who?

InkUnderNails

Here is my quandary. To become elite I need to fly. To fly I need to get a better seat than I can get on WN. Since I have no access to those seats without upgrading, I go back to WN where with my A+ (or preboard) I get the seat I want. I don't have to ride in an RJ and bump my head when I stand up. I don't have to hand off my expensive tools for a jetway check. WN gets me there NS, direct or a change in a convenient airport. I don't get to change planes in DFW, ORD or CLT.

Yeah, I could by a but of status with a CC and I might get a status match. That does not bypass the rest of the problems, just the seat and bag fees.

LegalTender

And with a 54% share of BNA ops - American next with 7.71% - WN alternatives are not teeming with potential.

Dunbar

That's my problem as well. Except that I live in LA and cover the western part of the country so I can't commit enough travel to one given legacy to get status. And low level status is increasingly becoming pretty worthless on the legacies. UA 2P's only get access to economy plus at T24 and US elites aren't immune from paying for preferred seating if the flight is already pretty full. This whole move to fee based "preferred seating" is pretty annoying IMO unless you can fly enough to get at least mid-tier elite status on a legacy.

vsmith

Really tried staying with them. But, lost my companion pass, lost the generous Rapid Rewards program, lost my comfortable seats, and lost the price advantage on many flights. SW used to be like Costco. I mean that in a good way. If you bought it at Costco, you could almost guarantee it was the best price and decent quality. I really never shopped other airlines until this year. Got a wake up call. Not feeling the LUV.

GottaLuvCruising

Well put! Thank you!

formeraa

Best analysis ever! ^

That said, on my particular routes, WN is still the winner most of the time. All of my trips have been on WN so far this year because their fares have been competitive on the routes that I fly. So far, through July, I have booked most of my flights on WN (except for next week when a co-worker insisted on flying US and a one-way ticket to SEA on AS).

It's funny how it has worked out. I started the year thinking I wouldn't be flying WN very much.

joshua362

What you said plus the abandonment of key routes out of ISP for me. If I have to schlep into LGA for more options & deal with the nonstop nonsense there (like last nights delays), I might as well fly someone else.

Love the Costco reference, dead on...

jpc763

I absolutely feel the same. I always would wait longer for the window to open with SWA. In the past year I have been shocked that the window would open and fares/times were terrible. Here is an example...

We are going to Palm Desert for Thanksgiving from Denver. Because SWA does not fly into PSP, we fly into SNA (John Wayne). Those routes are not open yet, but the fares for the month prior are $261.80 right now. I was able to snag a UA flight from DEN to PSP - NONSTOP - for $257.80 and since we have the United CC, we get 1 bag free each so that is an out the door price.

Dont even get me started about flying for Florida! Prices are through the roof! Everybody is cheaper than SWA.

These days, I am looking at everyone while before I would only look for SWA.

nsx

It's been the case for a few years now that Southwest does not offer its lowest fares more than about 12 weeks before your travel date. If you prefer to buy earlier than that, Southwest will not not win your business except during the rare long-horizon systemwide sale.

I used to book 5 months ahead. Now I only book 3 months ahead or to the end of the latest sale travel period which is often less than 3 months ahead. Booking beyond sale travel periods is a pointless waste of time.